Finch open to leading Australia again

Aaron Finch has acknowledged he'll be open to taking up Australia's captaincy if the selectors offer him the role but went on to say he hasn't 'thought about it' just yet.

With Steve Smith and David Warner banned for a year after the ball-tampering saga, Australia have been forced to find a new skipper.

The team will travel to England in June for five ODIs and a one-off T20I with the focus on the 2019 World Cup. They will then head to Zimbabwe to play a T20I tri-series in July against the hosts and Pakistan.

Finch had lead Australia in T20Is in 2014 but was stripped of the responsibility ahead of the 2016 T20 World Cup in India. "I'd definitely put my hand up for it but I haven't thought about it to be honest," Finch told cric.com.au on Sunday (April 15). "If the opportunity came up I'd love to take it but it's not something that I've thought about.

"It's obviously a really difficult time and some changes are going to be made in the next couple of months with the England ODIs and the Dubai Tests (against Pakistan later this year)."

Finch felt the absence of Smith and Warner opens up opportunities for several other players. "You are taking two of the best players in the world out of out of the side... the only way you can deal with it is to put a real positive spin on it," he pointed out. "It's obviously really unfortunate what's happened, but there's going to be a couple of spots open up and I've got no doubt the guys who are next in line can come in and do a fantastic job.

"It will give whoever is there a real opportunity to put their hand up and make sure they're at the forefront of selectors' minds when it is time for that World Cup.

"England are a fantastic one-day side, they proved that in Australia, they've had some great results over the last few years in one-day and T20 formats. It will just give guys a real opportunity to measure their games against arguably the best, along with India, sides in the world."

Finch has led Melbourne Renegades in the Big Bash League as well as Victoria in the Sheffield Shield and the JLT One-Day Cup. He credited Andrew McDonald, the Bushrangers and Renegades coach, for helping him improve as a captain.

"Andrew McDonald, he's been unbelievable. He's probably the most thorough coach I've ever played under," he said. "He never leaves any stone unturned in terms of preparation and possible scenarios that will come up in games. He's taught me a huge amount over the last couple of years in terms of captaincy and leadership in general.

"When I first started out I was little bit, just throw caution to the wind. You'd have your plans and sometimes they go out the window and you just have a gut feel. It's great when it goes well (but) in time I've probably learnt to be a bit calmer out on the field, take a bit more of the planning that you have pre-game."